


what remains

by Blancalill



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Blood, Child Death, Drowning, Fluff, Holding Hands, Kissing, Light Angst, M/M, Murder, Suicide, Talk about death, What remains of edith finch au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-10
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2021-01-26 15:21:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21376264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blancalill/pseuds/Blancalill
Summary: Jeno visits Jaemin's obscure house for the first time and learns all the stories behind it.
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	what remains

**Author's Note:**

> Jaemin talks about dead relatives and they come in all ages so if you don't like hearing about child death don't read, please!
> 
> Since the family members die of different reasons the tags are included. If any of those tags trigger you I would advise you to not read this. Sadly the tags are not in order either.
> 
> This is based on the video game What Remains Of Edith Finch. There are gameplays online if you would prefer to know the story before reading this fic, but you don't have to if you don't want to.
> 
> Please look forward to part two soon! 
> 
> Enjoy!

Jeno is starting to understand why Jaemin had tried to convince him to not go to his house. They’d been in Jaemin’s car for an hour already and Jaemin was still driving no end in sight.

They’d driven through the city all the way into the forest, the road getting more and more difficult. Jeno had been scared Jaemin’s car wouldn’t be able to handle it, but the younger didn’t seem to mind as he continued humming as they drove further and further into the green abyss.

Jaemin had put on music the second they had gotten into the car, Jeno had taken that as a sign to be quiet knowing the younger liked to think. Whenever he’d felt the urge to ask a question he’d look over at Jaemin’s calm face and he would keep it inside, not wanting to disturb him. He just looked so ethereal as he stared at the road ahead of him. Who would disturb somebody so beautiful?

“We’re almost at the end of the road and from there it’s like a five-minute walk, my dad hasn’t gotten around to fixing the driveway yet,” Jeno jumped a little at Jaemin’s voice, he’d gotten so used to the quiet green forest and slow music that Jaemin’s voice seemed loud and rough. 

Jaemin looked over at him for a second, waiting for a reply. Jeno stares back at him, his eyes going over his face. Noting his pink lips and annoyingly perfect skin. He sighs to himself to calm his nerves, he replies, “that’s fine, as long as my new white shoes don’t get ruined.” 

His voice shakes a little as he speaks and Jeno hopes Jaemin didn’t catch it. It’s always like this, Jeno being way too obvious in front of Jaemin. The sigh clearly didn’t help, he still feels nervous. More so now that he failed at a single interaction.

Jaemin snorted, “I think you and your white shoes will be fine.”

They drove on for another couple of minutes before Jaemin finally stopped his car. The road stopping and turning into a small path. Jeno’s legs felt stiff as he hopped out of the car hitting the solid ground with a thud. The ground was completely dry. His shoes were safe.

The trees were all different types green around him, some of the rocks were covered in moss while the area he was standing was covered in small rocks and dirt. He could see why Jaemin wouldn’t drive there though, the road had been overgrown and had been turned into a little path instead.

“It’s this way, come on,” Jaemin pointed down the path, Jeno felt like snorting and making a smart remark, but as usual he went all tongue-tied just looking at Jaemin. He settled on giving a curt nod instead.

“I have to warn you, my home is… not normal,” Jaemin kept his eyes on the ground as he spoke, his hand scratching the back of his neck. Jeno can’t help but smile at the slight blush on his cheeks. Jaemin’s blush is always the prettiest.

“I’m sure it’s fine Jaemin,” he says with a smile. The urge to pat his shoulder coursing through him but he holds back. Not wanting to make Jaemin uncomfortable.

Jaemin looked over at him and gave him a timid smile, “the house has been in our family for generations, so it’s a little packed,” he made a face Jeno couldn’t read. While confusing him he doesn’t really care, knowing he’ll see the house soon.

He smiled at him, “I’m sure I’ll love it.” They held eye contact as Jaemin nodded and grinned at him. He didn’t say anything more as they walked the rest of the way to the house.

Jeno found himself staring at Jaemin, walking a little behind. The sun shone directly onto him, making him glow faintly. His brown hair looking soft, the single braid Jeno had braided on him earlier in class was still there. A smile grew on his lips as he remembered the feeling of Jaemin’s hair in his hands and how pretty Jaemin had looked with his eyes closed as he braided his hair. He was really like an angel.

“Here we are,” Jaemin turned around to look at Jeno, a bright smile on his lips as he spread his arms to show off the house behind him.

Jeno’s eyes went from Jaemin’s face to the house, shocked at the way it was built. It was gigantic for starters. Jeno had been to the mansion on the other side of town but they weren’t even half as big as this house. This house seemed to have started as a normal house, the main part white and built like a normal house, but the rest had been built on over the years.

The house continued up a big tree, all the new additions to the house different colours and sizes. There were many levels, some of the ones on the top looked new as if they had been built in the last ten years from the more modern design. 

“The round glass dome at the top is my room, so we have quite a way to go,” Jaemin’s voice was filled with excitement. Jeno felt like he was dreaming, the house didn’t look real, Jaemin didn’t look real and the forest didn’t look real. Nothing looked real.

The porch in front of the house was big, almost bigger than his entire apartment. There was a small table with two chairs around it and in one of the corners, a stack of papers and a notebook laying on it too, “Jisung must’ve forgotten to clean up after himself yesterday, he likes drawing out here,” Jaemin explained.

Jeno went over to the table to look at the drawings. The notebook was opened to a half-finished drawing of some boy smiling, “he’s really good,” Jeno muttered pointing to the drawing in front of him.

“Yeah, especially when he gets a new muse,” Jaemin picked up the papers, laying some of them out on the table, showing Jeno more drawings of the same boy. 

They were all beautiful, some were in colour, others were only grey, but his favourite was the only one that was painted. He picked it up carefully, the paper was thick and a slight beige colour, “I think he should paint more, this is beautiful,” he showed the paper to Jaemin.

Jaemin hummed, “I’ll make sure to tell him.”

They quickly put all the papers back in the stack, Jaemin even writing a little note in Jisung’s notebook telling him how pretty the new drawings were and that Jeno said he should paint more.

“Let’s go inside, I want some food,” Jaemin walked towards the huge white door immediately, not waiting for Jeno’s reply.

Jeno could see some part of the house through one of the windows, but it seemed to only lead into the library. Somehow he didn’t feel any type of shock knowing Jaemin had a private library in his house, he had seen Jaemin reading in class and during breaks before.

“Jaemin?” the boy in question hummed, “do you like to read?” Jaemin stopped fiddling with the lock for a second, frowning a little while he thought.

“Yeah, I think so. At least more than the rest of my family,” the door creaked open just as Jaemin finished.

The pictures were the first thing Jeno noticed, there were pictures everywhere, some of them even black&white. He took off his shoes as he looked at all the pictures on the wall, more of them covering the wall up the stairs too.

He noticed the door to the left next, it was wide open and led straight into the library. He couldn’t see much as there was a bookshelf hiding the rest of the room, but somehow he had the feeling it was big. He had a feeling the entire house was big.

There were books stacked outside the library door too. Jeno figured they were either books they were getting rid off or books they’d newly acquired and hadn’t put away yet.

The floor was dark wood, like rosewood or something of that kind, the floor seemed to continue into the library, up the stairs and into all the other areas Jeno could see. The walls were beige, but they could hardly be seen through all the pictures.

“The kitchens right here,” Jaemin vaguely pointed with his hand, “I can show you the rest of the house later,” he waited for Jeno to respond this time, perhaps he understood the wonder Jeno was feeling.

He looked at Jaemin with his mouth ajar, somehow having an even harder time than usual forming a sentence in front of the younger. Jaemin looked back at him, a faint smile appearing on his lips, Jeno settled on another nod.

The kitchen was big, almost too big. There were pictures everywhere in there too, but they seemed newer than the ones in the hallway. From what Jeno could see there seemed to be some with Jaemin in them too, he could recognize the younger anywhere.

"Do you think ramen is okay?" Jaemin asked from where he was sitting on the floor going through one of the cupboards. Jeno only nodded and turned back to examining the kitchen. A thought passing through his mind of how he got to stop nodding so much.

The roof was so high, Jeno hadn't realized in the hallway, but now that he's in the kitchen the shelves with food seemed so big and tall. There's a shelf of canned foods that go from the floor all the way to the roof and it looked bigger than any shelf Jeno had ever seen in his entire life.

There was a kitchen island in the middle that was covered in more drawings, homework and a bunch of cookbooks. Jeno could imagine Jaemin and Jisung sitting there studying for an upcoming test or doing their homework, "why don't we just do our homework here?" Jeno turned to look at Jaemin again.

Jaemin shrugged focusing on the food, "I figured it would be more fun to show you my room, we can study here if you want, but we have to go up either way," Jaemin stirred the food, Jeno had never seen anybody make ramen the way Jaemin did. The younger had turned the heat up all the way immediately.

"No, I think studying in your room would be cooler," Jeno hoped Jaemin would show him every single one of the rooms in the house. He really wanted to know the stories behind the new parts of the house.

Jaemin didn't answer as the food was boiling, all his concentration was on the food in front of him. Jeno decided to look at the rest of the room instead of staring at Jaemin. He walked over to the fridge to look at the pictures on it, recognizing Jaemin's old pink hair on some of the pictures. He felt weird seeing the younger with his family, Jeno had only met Jisung in the hallway twice.

There were some pictures of some boys he didn’t recognise too, but that’s nothing new. He could only recognise Jaemin and Jisung on the pictures after all. He continued to look at the newest pictures where Jaemin almost always was present with his bright smile.

Some of the pictures were only of Jisung, one of the pictures was from Jisung's birthday or so Jeno guessed based on the cake. He was smiling widely as a huge cake was in front of him. It was bright pink and screamed Jaemin, "do you bake?"

Jaemin was now putting the ramen over in bowls, "yeah, there isn't much else to do here," he said with a shrug as he put the bowls down on the kitchen island in front of two chairs, Jeno walked around it to sit down and eat, "I'm sorry if it's not your usual style of ramen, I forgot to ask."

"It's fine," he took a bite of the noodles, it tasted just like any other ramen he's eaten, "it's good actually," he gave Jaemin a smile. The younger grinned back at him before digging in himself, he really did seem hungry.

Jaemin was quiet, Jeno had known that for a while, but he was always shocked at how quiet the younger could be. Jeno couldn't hear a single noise from Jaemin as he ate except the spoon hitting the bowl when he went for the sauce. Even the bowl seemed weirdly dreamlike now that Jeno was thinking about it, it had pink and blue flowers on the inside, and a golden ring on the outside.

"Do you want to see the whole house or? I know it's a lot, but you seemed curious in the hallway," Jaemin looked at him, his bowl empty. Jeno felt so slow compared to him, he hadn't even finished half of his food.

"I'd love to see everything, your house is so cool so far," he smiled a bright smile again, going back to eating.

Jaemin didn't watch him eat, which he appreciated, he always felt so ugly whenever he ate. As if he had sauce all over his face and body, "I don't think Jisung is coming home today, he's usually home by now," Jaemin was looking at his phone,

"Are you worried?" He knew Jaemin was protective of Jisung, but Jaemin only shrugged.

"He's probably at Chenle's house,” he said as he looked between him and his phone, “the kid in the drawings?" He added quickly at Jeno's confused face. He felt as though some part of the universe was on his side today if Jisung wasn't coming home that meant they'll be home alone for a while. Jeno doesn't know when Jaemin's parents come home, but he had a feeling it wasn't until tonight.

He nodded and finished up his food, Jaemin texting Jisung quickly before locking his phone and putting it in his pocket, "it sucks that we have to carry our backpacks the entire time, but you gotta do what you gotta do," Jaemin gave him a toothy grin as he hopped off his chair.

"Let's go!" He picked up the bowls and put them in the dishwasher, then he took his backpack and swung it on his shoulders, one of the straps hanging down on his biceps instead. Jeno wanted to fix the way Jaemin was wearing his backpack so bad, but he knew the younger wore it like that because it was the most comfortable to him.

He waited for Jeno to put on his bag too before pointing at a small door beside the counter, "this is the door to the garage that we don't use because dad hasn't fixed the road yet," Jeno laughed a little. He could feel the salt in Jaemin's voice.

He continued through the huge arch leading into what he assumed to be the livingroom, there were two couches of different colours, one light red and one brown, and two reading chairs. 

There was a glass coffee table in the middle of the room, over a rug the size of Jeno's bedroom back home. The roof was even higher here, the second story not covering the livingroom. Jeno could see right up to the second story, it was as if the stairs were just up to a ledge.

It looked like a bridge going from one side to the other, the stairs going up to it. Jeno looked over at the tv on the wall, it was mounted onto a wall of bricks, underneath it there was a fireplace. If Jeno was the owner of the house he would've been scared to have the tv so close to the fireplace, but Jaemin didn't seem to think anything of it.

"We used to eat here at this big table, but it feels weird without Nanna," Jaemin pointed to the table beside them, Jeno had somehow completely missed it, being focused on the living room part of the area. He only nodded, the table was covered in papers and drawings again.

The entire wall to the outside was made out of glass, looking out over a lake. Jeno could just make out a statue on a hill? that seemed to be gazing upon the water, "the statue is the guy that built this house," Jaemin followed Jeno's eyes.

"That's awesome, I don't even know who owns my building," Jeno walked closer to the glass as he heard Jaemin giggle behind him. There was a couple of trees right outside the window too, making it hard to see much. Still, there seemed like Jaemin's family had a lot of backyard space.

It looked like part of the backyard was the standard grass but outside a small white fence there seemed to be a small drop and even more space beyond that. He looked over the fence seeing a small gate. He has to make sure Jaemin shows him the outside too.

Jaemin watched him as he admired the view, a small tinge of jealousy passed through Jeno when he thought about how used to the sight Jaemin had to be if he chose to watch Jeno instead of it, "do you want to see the other rooms?" 

Jeno didn't even understand why the younger was asking anymore, "of course, if they're even half as good as this I'll have the time of my life," Jaemin smiled at him, Jeno's heart did a little flip looking at him. The look in his eyes seemed different from how he usually looked at him, it was so soft and gentle.

"I think you'll like the upper levels, you can see far from up there," he walked towards the hallway, but stopped right before entering it and pointing at the brick wall, “those are from the original house by the way.”

Jeno had no idea what the original house was, but he somehow had a feeling Jaemin would tell him while they go through the house. There seemed to be a lot of history in the house anyway.

Jaemin walked out of the livingroom and into the hallway, pointing at the white door as he passed it, "that's the basement, but I won’t make you go down there until we are finished here," he grinned and continued back to the front door. He waited for Jeno by the door to the library.

"This is the library, a lot of our books are here," he slipped inside the room Jeno quickly followed him. If there was one thing Jeno didn't want it was to be left alone in the house. No matter which room it was.

There wasn't a lot in the library except for books, there was a desk in the back though. Jaemin had decided to sit on it as Jeno walked through the maze of bookshelves to get to him. Jeno knew Jaemin was hot and that he wanted to kiss him, but seeing Jaemin sit with one leg on the table and leaning on his knee made that want only grow.

Jaemin smiled at him as he rounded the last bookshelf, "this is the library, the room I spent most of my childhood," he didn't move his hands from where they were wrapped around his leg, nor did he move his face. Jeno had never seen anything more attractive.

"I thought you moved here last year?" Jeno was genuinely confused, Jaemin had only shown up at their school a year ago and had gotten the entire school smitten with his cute smile and sparkling eyes.

Jaemin pouted a little, "I have always lived here, I was just homeschooled until last year when Jisung and I were complaining about friends after Nanna died," he shrugged. Jeno had to hold back from blushing, Jaemin just looked so good. His hair was fall over his eyes and because he had his face tilted his cheekbones were more prominent than usual.

"I wish you had started earlier," Jeno spoke before thinking, but Jaemin didn't seem to understand him. He only tilted his head even more, if that was even possible.

"What does that mean?" Jeno could hear the pout in his voice.

Jeno shrugged, he pretended to be nonchalant even though his heart was beating erratically, "nothing."

Jaemin squinted at him, “okay, whatever you say Jeno Lee,” he jumped from the desk, “the next levels are mostly bedrooms, just so you know.”

The stairs creak under their feet as they make their way up slowly, Jeno tried to look at every single one of the pictures on the wall. Many of them were of teens and kids, Jeno guessed they were all family members of Jaemin. Different generations probably, or at least based on the way they looked.

"Is this your family?" There are so many people, based on the number of people in the pictures Jeno would think there would be more descendants than Jaemin and Jisung.

Jaemin had already reached the top, but he turned around to look at him, "yeah, I'll tell you all about them when we see their rooms," he smiled again, Jeno felt as if Jaemin was constantly smiling when talking about his family.

Jeno only nodded, continuing up the stairs a little faster, but still kept his eyes on the pictures. He really wished his family had as many pictures as Jaemin's family had. The pictures by themselves could tell the whole story.

There were some pictures Jeno knew he'd never forget. One of them being of what he assumed to be two brothers, they were holding hands as they stood in front of the cliff with the statue. 

One of them was smiling brightly at the camera while the other was scowling, focusing on licking his ice cream instead. Somehow he could see both of the boys in Jaemin. He had only seen Jaemin angry once, it was a month into him and his brother had started going to their school, somebody had told Jisung he should speak up or he'll never be liked and Jaemin had told the boy something nobody could hear, but the boy had never even looked their way again.

He wanted to ask Jaemin about the boys but held back. He knew the story would be better once they get to the correct room. He would ask him why the boy was scowling later.

Jeno rushed up the rest of the stairs, almost gawking at how big the second floor looked. To his right was a hallway with two doors, one of them a light pink, and the other blue. To the left, there were three doors. 

There was also another passway to a part on the other side of the stairs, where there were another door and a bench with books underneath it going along the wall. There was also some stairs continuing up to the third floor at the end of the bench. It was also covered in pictures.

"Down there is Molly and Walter," Jaemin gestured toward the right, "down there is Nanna and my great-grandpa, a bathroom and the twins Lucas and Sam," he pointed down the hallway to the left, "and that door there is Barbara," he pointed to the other side of the stairs.

Jeno could already feel his head spinning on the number of people there, and knowing this was only the original house and not a single one of the add-ons made him a little nervous. He nodded, "where do we start?" he asked as he stared around him, his eyes looking over the fence and down the living room, feeling his knees shake a little at the part of the fence that looked to have been fixed after an accident.

"Molly, she was the oldest of the kids that moved here," he gestured to the left again, "she likes purple by the way, it's only the door that's pink," Jaemin chuckled as they walked to the room, there was a single golden sign on it, Molly 1937-1947 engraved into it. Jeno's stomach churned at the idea of a little girl dying.

Jaemin opened the door and stepped in, "be careful to not ruin anything, everything is so old. And dad would kill me," Jeno only nodded as he looked around him. This time not at a loss of words because of Jaemin, but because of all the purple. It truly looked like a little princess room, the bed was a kids size four poster bed, there was a bookshelf that hardly reached Jeno chest full of storybooks, and a light purple desk that still had a diary open on it.

He stepped further in, there was a small dresser with a little gerbil cage on top of it beside the door, even the cage was purple. There was a white closet beside the dressed too, the knobs on it painted a dark purple. There was a painting of a castle beside the bookshelf, her name written in cursive over it. Jeno thought of his cousin and how she would've loved having a painting like that in her room.

There was another door in the room too, it was white with a bunch of purple flowers. Jeno had a feeling artistic talent ran through their family as he looked at all the art in this single room. Jaemin had been watching him take in the room in silence for a while, but as soon as they made eye contact he opened his mouth.

"Molly was a funny and loud kid, she sometimes broke the rules, and the day she passed she had been locked into her room," he spread his arms to make it clear this was the room he was talking about, "she had to skip dinner that day," a knot formed in Jeno's stomach. The thought of her accidentally dying because she didn't get dinner made the blood drain from his face.

Jaemin walked over to the desk, his fingers touched a painting sitting on the desk, "this is the painting Nanna painted to remember her, every room has one so be ready for that," Jeno didn't respond, only stalked over to him. He looked at the girl in the painting, her eyes were shining and her smile was almost as blinding as Jaemin’s, she seemed so sweet and happy.

"I want you to read her diary from that night, and you'll figure everything out," he handed Jaemin the little brown notebook, Jeno frowned a little, "don't worry she didn't know she was going to die, but you'll understand, and if you don’t I’ll explain."

Jeno's heart pounded in his chest as Jaemin and he sat down on the floor, Jeno only now realizing there was a purple carpet there. He opened the notebook again after Jaemin had closed it, there was a red silk thread on the page he had to start at. He sighed reading the first line, calming his heart as much as he can. He tried to ignore the way the handwriting clearly belonged to a 10-year-old.

December 13th, 1947

_ Dear Diary, _

_ I know I'll be gone soon, but I wanted to tell you about what's happening to me. _

_ Mom sent me to bed without dinner after I had taken a cookie when I wasn't supposed to. I went straight to sleep like I usually do when I'm bad. _

_ But suddenly I woke up super hungry. I tried to ask mom for food, but she told me to just go back to bed because it's late. _

_ My stomach rumbled too much for that, so I decided to look around my room for food. _

_ I had no candy in my secret candy box sadly. Mom had found it a couple of days ago and emptied it out. _

_ Sunny had no food I could steal either. Except for a small piece of carrot, but it did nothing to feed me. _

_ But then I remembered the berries in the bathroom and how tasty they looked. Mom had told me to never eat them, but I was just so hungry. _

_ I sat on the toilet seat as I swallowed all 10 of the berries. They were so red and big, they were a little sour, but it was okay. My stomach felt better. _

_ Mistletoe has to be my favourite flower now if it even counts as a flower. _

_ I ate my toothpaste too. It didn't taste good and made my stomach hurt, but it still filled me up a little, but not enough. _

_ Afterwards, I heard a bird outside my room window, my stomach rumbled loudly again. I opened the window and was trying to reach for it when I suddenly turned into a cat. _

_ I jumped from the window to the tree, my small kitten heart hammering in my chest. I chased the bird everywhere even though dad had told me I'm never allowed to climb in the tree. I was just so hungry. _

_ The bird chirped so loud my stomach felt even more excited to get it and eat it. I jumped from branch to branch, the bird never taking flight. _

_ We continued this chase until we were on the last tree and I did the final jump, my claws going straight into the birds' skin. I tried to swallow him whole, even though I choked a little and had to chew, but I was still so hungry. _

_ And suddenly I was an owl. My wings were so big as I flew. It didn't take long before I could hear more food, rabbits! _

_ I have flown above them. Listening closely with my sharp ears before swiftly going down and taking hold of the rabbits with my claws. I had to sit down on a branch to be able to eat, but this time I was able to swallow it. I almost choked this time too, but I just couldn't stop. _

_ I was hardly finished with the one rabbit before I could hear another. I just couldn't help myself. I had to have another. _

_ This one took longer to find, but it tasted so good once I did. I had turned again while chewing on the rabbit, but I didn't notice until I had hit the water.  _

_ I was a shark! _

_ The water was so cold. Mom had told me before to never go swimming during winter, but I was a shark. I had to be in the water. _

_ My stomach rumbled as a seal swam above me. I could hear the blood pump through him. I had to eat him. I had to taste his skin and blood. _

_ He hadn't seen me yet. I knew I had the upper hand as I shot up from the water and tried to bite him, but he got away. He must have sensed me! _

_ I swam after him as fast as I could. He was bleeding a little. It really wasn't hard to locate him no matter where he swam. His blood smelled so good. _

_ Soon he wasn't the only thing I could hear. I could hear humans too, but I didn't care. He was my main target now. _

_ He did something stupid. He slowed down for a second and I caught up to him. Swallowing him whole as I turned again. _

_ I was now a black slimy monster! _

_ My stomach still rumbled. I thought about looking for something else to eat, but the humans were so close. I had to eat the humans. _

_ I reached up, up and up. One of my tentacles reached the boat and I pulled myself up. The smell hit me strongly as I reached it. The humans smelled so good. Better than the seal had even smelled. _

_ I reached towards the closest human I could hear. My tentacle stopping right behind him. Pulling me so close to him. _

_ With one last tentacle, I pulled him into my mouth. I had to even lick my lips because he tasted so good. _

_ There was one last human left. The captain. _

_ He was singing some song. He seemed tired. He couldn't even stand straight as I reached for him and pulled him into my mouth. _

_ I thought I was full once I had swallowed him, but I still needed more. I could smell another human. This one was sweet and fresh. So much fresher than the captain. _

_ I used my slimy body and jumped aboard. Swimming towards the smell. The human smelled so strongly my head was swimming. _

_ I reached through a pipe. All I could think about was the smell of the lovely human. I just couldn't believe how fresh it smelled. _

_ I recognized the toilet I came out off, how could I not. It was purple. I was the only one with a purple bathroom. _

_ _

_ Even though I knew I was in my own room I didn't stop. I opened the bathroom door and crawled under my bed. _

_ I woke up then. I'm trying to be quiet as I write this. _

_ But I know I'll be eaten soon. _

_ All I hope is that I'm really as tasty as I dreamt I was. _

Jeno felt like crying, Marie had died because she was hungry, "hallucinations," he whispered. Jaemin nodded slowly, taking the notebook back from him and staring at the page for a couple of seconds.

"She was hallucinating and wrote that diary entry, she then tried to do what she wrote and jumped from the window. She laid there and slowly bled to death, only Kai saw her, but he always said it was horrible,” Jaemin sighed, closing his eyes before sitting up straight again.

He pointed to the last few sentences, "you can see how much her handwriting changed from each word she wrote, that’s the hallucinations" he flipped to the start of the story. Her handwriting really had worsened for each word, Jeno hadn't even realized. He had been too into the story.

Jaemin stood up and put the notebook back on the desk, keeping it closed this time, "we named our cat Marie after her," he chuckled a little, even Jeno had to smile at that.

"I didn't know you had a cat, I love cats," Jeno wanted to see their cat now. Pet little Marie.

Jaemin smiled brightly, "she's probably in barbara's room," he waved towards the door again.

He needed a couple of seconds to breathe, still sitting on the floor as he truly took in what he had just read. He knew some kids had sad stories, but this had to take the deal for him. He once again thought of his cousin, praying to all gods that nothing like this happened to her.

"I want to show you something special," Jaemin smiled brightly at him. He walked over to the bathroom door, but instead of going into the bathroom he opened the closet. There were a couple dresses in there, but nothing too much. Jaemin, however, pushed the clothes to the side, showing a small hatch in the back.

Jeno gasped and stood up, standing beside Jaemin within a second, "why?"

"Marie and Taeil never met, but Nanna decided to keep this hatch so Taeil could go to the toilet without having to open all those doors and waking people up," he shrugged, "do you want to go through it?"

Jeno nodded quickly, he felt as if his eyes were shining. Jaemin smiled brightly before climbing into the closet and pushing the hatch up. Jeno couldn't see what was on the other side, but he didn't really mind. The excitement to see it for himself buzzing within him, "it's a little tight, but come here Jeno," his heart jumped at the way his name sounded in Jaemin's mouth.

He climbed in behind the younger, it was a tight fit, but not as tight as he thought it would be. Jaemin was sitting against one of the walls. He was practically shining with the window behind him and the way he smiled at him. The room, if it could even be called that, had beams inside it and hadn't been painted, but it still felt homely. It was warmer than Molly's room, it smelled of dust and old books.

"Sit here," Jaemin patted the floor beside him, Jeno shuffled in and sat beside him. They gazed at each other, Jeno again felt like reaching out to Jaemin and touch him, but he stopped himself. Hoping that one day he'd be able to hold Jaemin whenever he wanted.

Jaemin turned away first, "Jisung used to practice in here when he was younger before he got his own atelier," he didn't point towards anything, but Jeno simply followed the direction of his eyes. On the wall was a simplistic painting of animals, most of them were cats, but there were some bunnies and crocodiles too.

"Has he always liked drawing and painting?" Jeno looked at the younger without even thinking about it. It was as if it was a natural part of him.

Jaemin hummed a little, pursing his lips as he thought, "I mean, he used to draw on the walls of my room when he was a baby, so I guess so," he shrugged. Jeno liked thinking of Jaemin as a kid, he liked thinking of Jaemin in any way he could, but there was something about him as a kid that made his heart flutter.

They sat in silence for a while, staring at the wall. Jaemin seemed so relaxed beside him, his breathing was slow and his eyelashes fanned in the air as he blinked. Jeno thought about touching him but instead he decided to let his hand fall from his lap onto the floor beside him, his pinky just about touching Jaemin's thigh.

Jaemin didn't move at the touch, he just continued leaning against the wall, even letting his head hit the window behind him with a loud bang. Jeno jumped a little, turning to look at the younger in worry. Jaemin however only giggled, he started giggling with him.

Once they calmed down Jaemin turned to look at him again, "let's continue shall we?"

Jaemin's eyes were so beautiful in the sun, Jeno could feel his cheeks heating up, but he couldn't bring himself to look away. He looked across Jaemin's face, how his tan seemed to shine in the sunlight, his hair seemed fluffier and how impossibly clean skin was.

"Yeah, let's go," his mouth felt dry, but Jaemin didn't seem to notice as he nodded and started crawling out the hatch on the other side. Jeno stared at him, once again. His head swimming, he's in his crush's house and he touched his thigh with his pinky.

When Jaemin jumped out of the small hatch, Jeno started shuffling after him. Jaemin stood watching him as he jumped out of the little room too. The room was blue and had waves painted on the walls, this was something more of Jeno's style compared to Marie's room.

"Taeil's room is a little different, you haven't seen the sign on his door, but he lived from 1952 all the way until 2005," Jeno shook his head a little in shock, "but I can't tell you his story until we check out barbara's room, but you can have a look around anyway," he frowned a little, seeming sorry about what he had said.

Jeno however only smiled back at him, "it's okay Jaemin, I get it," Jaemin beamed back at him.

He turned away from the younger quickly, not wanting to blush in front of him again, feeling like this time it would be easier to see now. He looked at the bed by the corner, it was a bunk bed, the bottom bunk had a little curtain he could pull to hide behind while sleeping.

There was a desk in the other corner, books on marines and sea and stuff. Jeno didn't know that much about stuff like that, but he got the gist of it. There was a lot of blue, and stuff related to the sea. He turned around to where they came out from, the wall with the hatch had the door back to the hallway on it and a single dresser. There was a fish tank on top of it, thankfully it was empty of any fish and water, but the little stuff that makes it all cool was still in it.

He giggled a little at the miniature sign that said No Fishing Allowed, Jaemin seemed to catch what he was looking at and chuckled a little too, "I'm glad you like his humour."

There wasn't a lot more in the room, but he felt like he needed to take a closer look at the bed. It looked a little like a boat in his eyes, and he had a feeling that was what they were going for, but it wasn't as clear as Marie's princess bed.

"I feel like each one of these rooms has a thing like Marie had fairytales and purple while Taeil has water I guess?" He felt like he was kinda speaking out of his ass at this point.

Jaemin however nodded, he was biting his nails a little, Jeno knew he did that sometimes, but it always felt out of character with the calm and collected Jaemin, "yeah, every one of us got a room with a set design you know, you'll see," Jaemin smiled at him and wiped his fingers on his jeans.

"I'm excited to see yours then," Jeno smiled, but blushed as soon as he saw the shock on Jaemin's face, stuttering a little as he tried to explain himself, "I mean I wonder what part of you is so clear that your whole room is based around it," he kept his eyes on the floor.

Jaemin was quiet for a couple of seconds, "well, we have a long way left, so let's go," Jeno chuckled a little. He felt like Jaemin was saying that a lot.

They walked out of the room and out of the hallway, Jeno expected Jaemin to walk over to barbara's room, but he walked away from the hallway you had to walk to get to the door and to Nanna's room instead. The door had the same golden sign as Marie's, this one said Edie 1917-2016.

"I hope this one is a little happier than Molly's," Jeno said as Jaemin turned to knob on the door, Jaemin chuckled a deep chuckle.

"I like to think so," he walked inside as he spoke, "Nanna shared this room with her husband, but he died while building an add-on to the house," he showed Jeno a newspaper clipping with a picture of a smiling man who was doing a thumbs up, even Jeno had to smile seeing him being happy.

Jaemin once again stayed quiet as Jeno took in the room, there was birdcages hanging from the roof everywhere, and a lot of books. There was a wooden dresser with a painting with an old man and an even older woman’s faces on it. Jeno only now realizing there wasn't any painting in Walter's room.

What Jeno liked the most out of the whole room though was the quilt on the bed, it was knitted in wool and many different colours, but he could already guess the colours scheme based on the purple and blue, but there were a lot of colours between them, he pointed at it and turned to Jaemin, "what's this about?"

Jaemin walked up beside him, looking at the quilt, "it's the order they died in," he leaned down and touched his pointer finger to the purple part, "first there's Marie," then he waved across the quilt all the way to the blue, "and then there's Walter," he explained quickly.

Jeno made a little oh sound, "will I understand who's who at the end?"

He looked over at Jaemin, the younger once again puckering his lips as he thought, "I think so," then he turned and looked at Jeno with a bright smile, "and if not we can come back and I'll tell you," Jaemin pointed to the dresser with the painting, "but first great grandpa and Nanna."

There was a book on the dresser, Jaemin picked it up carefully, "I won't make you read this, but you can look at the pictures while I tell you the story of great grandpa," I grinned, sat down on the bed and patted the bed beside him. Jeno took it as an invitation and sat down beside him.

They moved further into the bed, turning to face each other and folding their knees underneath themselves. Jeno read the title of the book carefully, The Bizarre Life of Odin Lastname, Jeno felt the wonder bubble up in his chest. He opened the book slowly and looked at the picture on the first page of a house, a man, a young girl and a woman with a baby.

"That's great grandpa and his family, that's his wife," he pointed to the woman, "that's Edie, or as I call her Nanna," his finger was now on the young girl who looked around Jeno's older brothers age, 22 or something like that, "and that's baby Mia," he pointed at the baby in the woman's arms.

Jeno studied them for a little while, the house seemed to be the same house as the one they were in right now, but something was different, "where is this?"

"Norway, in the 1930s," he pointed to the flag on top of the flagpole in the back. Jeno had the admit he wouldn't have known it was Norway even if the picture had been in color.

He decided to flip to the next picture instead of telling Jaemin that. This picture was of Odin leaning over a grave, Jeno tried to read the names but he couldn't, "in 1936 Odin's wife and their youngest baby Mia died," Jaemin quickly explained, "you see, the people of Norway thought Lastname was cursed."

Jeno felt his mouth dry up again looking at the grave and the sadness on the old mans face, Jaemin, however, seemed totally unfazed. He tried to find the next picture as fast as he could, trying his hardest not to think about the poor baby. The next picture was only on the next page, Jaemin chuckled a little at him when he seemed to have a hard time finding it.

The image in front of Jeno was something he never thought he would see in his entire life. The house was on the water, floating as if it was a boat in itself. Jaemin let out a big laugh seeing Jeno's confused face. Jeno's cheeks went warm and red at Jaemin's laugh and knowing Jaemin was watching him.

"That's the original house, Tor thought maybe the curse was only in Norway so he decided to set his house on the water and sail all the way here," he giggled as he explained to Jeno.

Jeno's head was swimming, he couldn't quite believe somebody had decided to set their whole entire house on the water and sail all the way to America, "he's crazy," he couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"I know right," Jaemin laughed even more, "but anyway, he didn't make it," Jeno looked at him in confusion this time. They were clearly here so what did he mean with that. Jaemin only laughed even more.

"You remember I told you about how the bricks downstairs were from the original house?" Jeno nodded slowly, "the house sank just from land if you look out of the window you can just see the top of the house," Jeno turned around quickly and peered outside, he even squinted to see it.

He decided to even stand up to look at it, "oh, yeah I can see it, wow," 

"Amazing right?" Jeno nodded, still staring at the little piece of the house he could see, "Jeno come back here, I have to tell you the rest," Jaemin whined a little making Jeno's heart jump in his chest, and the heat rises up in his cheeks again.

"Sorry," he sat back down on the bed and opened the book again, this time on a picture of the girl from earlier, a boy and a small baby.

"That's Nanna, her husband Kai and little Marie," Jeno's heart squeezed at the thought of Marie, "they made it to shore, but Tor drowned sadly," the smile was gone from Jaemin's face, "Nanna wanted to build a new house, so they did, and that's the house we are in now."

Jeno took a couple of deep breaths, he looked at some of the pictures without Jaemin saying anything. Most of them from different stages of the building of the house. Kai in every single one of them, sometimes Ellie would be there with Marie in her arms.

"They made a family cemetery too, that's the statue you see out there," Jaemin pointed to the cliff, "that's Tor looking out at the sea, I'll show you the cemetery some other time," he smiled at Jeno again.

Jaemin's house just kept getting bigger and bigger, he felt quite shocked knowing all of this about Jaemin. He felt as if he had been let in on a secret nobody else at school knew about, except Jisung of course, but he doesn't count, "next time?" Jeno really hoped next time meant tomorrow.

"Maybe tomorrow if you want? I don't want to scare you immediately you know," Jaemin was grinning, Jeno wanted to smile just as bright, but he felt himself once again getting awestruck by Jaemin's beauty,

Still, he gave Jaemin a shy smile, "I don't think you can ever scare me," he added shyly. Jaemin turned his head to the side and lifted his right eyebrow.

"Is that a challenge? What if I told you I'm pregnant with Jesus and I was sure of it?" He beamed at him, Jeno made a disgusted face.

"I'd tell you-you're mental, but I'd stay right beside you through your pregnancy," his voice was so serious it even surprised him, but Jaemin only giggled at him. Jeno felt himself blush at the thought that he made Jaemin laugh, god why did he have such a big crush, it wasn't good for his heart.

Jaemin stared at the book for a little bit, "I don't know if Nanna will be boring or not, my dad never told me what happened, but I personally think she killed herself."

Jeno gasped, "I'm so sorry, I knew she meant a lot to you," he finally picked up the courage to touch Jaemin, putting his hand on Jaemin's knee, He didn't stroke him with his thumb or any of that cute stuff, but just knowing he was touching Jaemin made his heart hammer in his chest.

He tore his face from his hand on Jaemin's knee to his face, trying to suck in his breath as quietly as possible. Jaemin, his crush, was blushing and staring at his hand on his knee. He was still pouting slightly, but he still felt so shocked at Jaemin blushing because of him. He had to pull his hand away from him to not scream out loud.

Jaemin let out a small cough, “it's okay, she was almost a hundred years old you know, she used to drink alcohol with her medicine which she wasn't supposed to do," he ruffled his hair and looked up at Jeno, "so I think that's the cause of death and that counts as suicide right?" He turned him to the side again.

Jeno didn't know what to say if he was honest, he had never known anybody that killed himself and he had only had one family member die and that was his great grandad at five years old, "I don't know, maybe," he shrugged twice, he really didn't know anything.

"It's time for Mark and Lucas' room, come on," the air still felt heavy as they walked into the conduit. It was bright pink and the carpet was fluffy, Jeno was shocked Jaemin didn't even flinch at how bright it was.

"God, this is too pink, Ellie doesn't feel like the type," Jeno had to squint to get used to the room.

Jaemin let out a cackle, "she isn't the type actually, this is grandpa Lucas's first wife, Anna's creation," Jeno looked at Jaemin in confusion.

"I thought Ellie was your grandma and Kai was your grandpa?" Jaemin stopped what he was doing to turn around and look at him.

He shook his head before diving into his explanation, "Nanna and grandpa Kai wanted to feel young so they wouldn't let us call them anything else, but Lucas is my actual grandpa and Anna is my grandma," Jeno had to sit down on the toilet to think.

"But you called Tor your great grandpa and not your great-great grandpa," Jeno pointed at him accusingly.

Jaemin only shrugged, "they really wanted to feel young," he sat down on the age of the bathtub, crossing his arms and smiling at Jeno, waiting for him to understand everything.

Jeno stared at Jaemin, he had already figured he would just listen to the stories and stop caring about the generations. He figured the stories changed Jaemin more than what generation they were in. He had to smile at the way Jaemin was bright pink because of the light around them.

"Why are we in the bathroom anyway?" he wasn't going to question it, but it just seemed strange to him to go to the bathroom when they’re going to a new bedroom. Jaemin stops looking at the floor to look at him for a while, his eyes empty as if he couldn't quite catch what he said.

Jeno was just about to say it again when Jaemin shook his head and looked back down, he shrugged and opened his mouth again, "I just thought you might like going through the secret passages more than just walking through the hallways," he seemed unsure about his own words, Jeno's heart skipped a beat when he understood the younger was shy. Jaemin was shy because of him.

"I'd like that," Jeno grinned, Jaemin finally looking up from the ground to look him in the eyes. Jaemin's cheeks were dusted pink and his eyes were shining, somehow he looked even more like an anime character than ever. He seemed so unreal, how could anybody be that cute?

He turned his attention back to the ground again, kicking the pink fuzzy carpet a little. Jeno wanted to coo at him but settled on doing what he does best, to stare at him. He noticed how Jaemin was biting his lips a little, sometimes seeming more to be chewing on them than anything else, he was still the cutest boy Jeno had ever seen.

Jaemin touched his red cheeks, cupping them as he spoke, "you have to get off the toilet for us to continue," he tried to look up at him, "sorry," Jeno could just make out how his cheeks blushed an even deeper red. Jeno didn't ask any questions as he stood up, Jaemin had surprised him many times, there weren't any questions that could make him ready for whatever Jaemin had in store for him.

"This one is a little longer, so we just have to continue the entire way," Jaemin flipped the mirror above the toilet to the side and opened the hatch, quickly jumping in, "I don't usually use this one because it's so tiny," Jaemin's voice was a little strained as he spoke, Jeno somehow getting a little more nervous about crawling through the passageway.

Once Jaemin had gotten a couple of meters in Jeno jumped on top of the toilet and hauled himself after him. Jaemin was right, it was a tight fit, his shoulders touched each side and his head kept just grazing the ceiling. The dust tickled his nose as Jaemin's body spread it everywhere. It had the same type of look like the other one, it was purely wooden and in some places, Jisung had been painting.

There's was a loud thump, Jaemin groaning right afterwards. He stopped moving and laid his head down on the ground instead, circling his arms around his head, groaning loudly. Jeno tried to get a better look at him, but the rest of his body was hiding him, "are you okay?"

Jaemin only groaned back for a while, "yeah I just hit my head on the ceiling, I forgot it goes down a little bit here," he reached for the one plank that had hit him.

"If we get out of here I'll check out your head, okay? I'll be careful too," Jeno tapped the sole of Jaemin's foot, cringing a little when Jaemin jumped.

"Okay, I'll get going," Jaemin went back to crawling seconds later, but this time he kept his head down. Jeno made sure to keep his head low, a little scared to hit his head as hard as Jaemin had. He was so focused on his own head that he hardly saw the swing that was coming up and that Jaemin was nowhere to be seen.

"Jaem?" he stopped entirely, a bright light was seeping from around the swing, but he didn't want to go without knowing Jaemin was there, waiting for him.

"I'm right here, Jeno," he peaked back around the corner and grinned at him, motioning for him to come to the rest of the way. He gave a weak smile back and crawled the rest of the way, the back of his mind telling him to focus on his head more than the face right in front of him.

Jaemin's forehead touched his softly, both of them stopped everything immediately, Jeno stopped crawling, and stared straight into Jaemin's eyes instead. Jaemin's grin slowly fell off his face, his eyes widening at how close they were. Both of them started blushing at the feeling of each others breath on their faces, Jaemin apologized like crazy as he stepped away.

Jeno tried to cool down his cheeks as he crawled the rest of the way. His head swimming with the feeling of Jaemin so close to his face. He could still feel how hot Jaemin's breath had been, it had hit him right on the lips. It felt as though Jaemin had kissed him, his heart was beating so erratically and he wanted to reach for his lips to feel him again.

"Well, this is Lucas and Mark's room," Jaemin coughed a little, turning away from Jeno as he scratched the back of his neck, "they were twins, Mark died first," Jaemin pointed to one side of the room, Jeno didn't look, he was too focused on Jaemin, "Lucas's story is longer, as you can see at the size of his bed," he pointed at the other side of the room, Jeno still didn't look.

His mind was reeling with the image of kissing Jaemin, to feel his lips on his, touch his jaw and bring him closer. He wanted to try and have the younger sit in his lap too, hold his waist as Jaemin has his arms around his neck, their lips constantly touching.

"Jeno?" He jumped, Jaemin's face was so close again, "can you take a look at my head?" Jaemin touched his head, just where he'd bumped his head. Jeno's mouth hung open as he stared, how could Jaemin go from shy to confident so quick? Jeno was still not over sitting beside him in the other secret passageway.

He nodded, "sit on the floor, I'll sit on the chair and check it out," he reached for the chair sitting in the middle of the room. Jaemin simply nodded and sat down on the floor, once again folding his leg and leaning his head on it. Jeno rolled the chair closer to him, his hands were shaking as he reached Jaemin's hair.

Jaemin jumped a little when Jeno's fingers barely grazed his hair making Jeno jump too, he brought his hand back quickly. They both apologized, they giggled a little, "I'll do it now, stay still," Jeno's hands were still shaking as he reached for the brown locks in front of him yet again.

His hair was so soft, the strands slipped through his fingers. He tried not to let his heart take control of him, his cheeks flushed when Jaemin groaned a little under his touch, "I think you just have a little bump, I'm sure you have some type of ointment somewhere that'll help with it," Jaemin's scalp was so warm, still he could clearly feel a little bump growing, "it might hurt a little bit for a while though."

Jaemin nodded slowly, "I can deal with that, just tell me if I suddenly start bleeding or something," he turned around beaming at Jeno, "don't want to follow the family curse today," Jeno snorted and hit Jaemin's shoulder, his cheeks only heating up a little at the thought that he just touched his crush so casually.

"I think you'll be fine," Jaemin giggled a little as he got up from the floor, suddenly towering over Jeno.

"Better get going or we'll have to stop halfway and continue tomorrow," Jaemin groaned loudly as he stretched his limbs, "I feel like my body belongs to an 80-year-old and not me," 

he sighed, dropping his arms back to his side, his eyes looking around the room.

"Your body doesn't look like it belongs to an 80-year old," Jeno gasped as soon as the words had left his mouth. He couldn't believe he had just said that out loud.

Jaemin looked back down at Jeno, a wide grin spreading across his lips, "are you checking me out when I'm not looking?" His voice was high pitched and teasing, he barely moved his hips, but it still made Jeno blush. Not to mention that he had wiggled his eyebrows at him and placed a lone finger under his chin.

"I- n-no, I j-ju..." Jaemin cackled loudly, Jeno was stammering and falling over his words, his blush only getting redder. He was so red at this point that Jeno would never have to buy tomatoes again, he could just use his own head.

"Don't worry, I check you out too," Jaemin took his finger away from Jeno's chin before doing a single finger gun, winking at him at the same time. Jeno was sure Jaemin could see his heart beating in his chest at this point, he was sure he could feel it bumping against his ribcage.

He sat completely still in the chair as Jaemin seemed to be back to normal, wandering around the room. Jeno had still not taken in the room, his eyes just wouldn't leave Jaemin no matter how hard he tried.

"As I was saying, this is Mark," Jaemin pointed to the left side of the room, "and Lucas's room," he pointed to the right. Jeno figured it was about time he checked it out. One side was filled with spaceships and was painted red and blue while the other had camouflage and multiple different green colours.

"Mark liked the sky, especially spaceships and stuff like that," Jaemin wandered over to Mark's side. The bed was in the middle of the wall and had been designed to look like a mini spaceship. Jeno's inner child was freaking out, he knew he would've liked a bed like that as a child.

There was a little hut that was above Mark's bookshelf that was also designed as a spaceship, but while the bed was red and silver this one was red, blue and grey. Jaemin walked over to the stairs leading up to the hut, they were on the other side of the bed and you had to cross a little bridge that went over the bed to get to it, "his memorial is in here."

Honestly, the tiny bridge didn't look safe, but Jaemin didn't seem to mind as he walked over it and bent down to fit in the hut so Jeno quickly followed him, he wouldn't fall far if he fell anyway, and there was a bed under the bridge. He really didn't have anything to worry about.

He sat down beside Jaemin in the tiny space, shocked they could both fit in there without sitting on top of each other. There was a painting on a teeny tiny desk, the face belonging to the grumpy boy who was licking his ice cream on the stairs, "I recognize him, he's on the stairs," Jeno exclaimed and leaned forward, forgetting anything about personal space. He finally felt the same rush of wonder in him, he had been looking forward to this one for ages.

"I'm impressed you even remember that," Jaemin's hand hovered above Jeno's lower back, Jeno pretended he couldn't feel it as he slowly sat back down, his cheeks once again bright red.

"He and the other boy caught my eye because they were so different," Jeno shrugged. He could feel his ears heating up as Jaemin's hand was still on his lower back, now stuck between Jeno and the wall.

Jaemin only smiled brightly at him, "it was just a bad day, Mark was usually a happy boy," he pointed to the painting, Mark was smiling in it, his teeth white and small dimples poking out, "or at least that's what people have told me, but I never met him personally so I wouldn't know."

"He looks like the happy type just like you," he felt a lump form in his throat, he tried his best to swallow it, "maybe it runs in the family."

Jaemin beamed even brighter, his eyes sparkling even more. The hand on Jeno's back gripped his shirt in a tight grip, "thank you Jeno," he whispered. Somehow Jaemin whispering his thanks felt more personal than when he would squeal and thank him, Jeno couldn't do it anymore and had to look away to hide his blushing cheeks.

He heard Jaemin chuckle beside him, the hand on his back doing its best to stroke him. His face only heating up even more. He pushed his face into his arms, his entire body folded up, trying it's best to hide his blushing. 

Suddenly Jaemin's fingers grazed his ear, "I can still tell how red you are, you don't have to hide," there was a moment of silence, Jeno could feel Jaemin shuffling beside him and then his lips were right by his ears, "it's cute anyway."

Jeno almost choked on his own spit, Jaemin's breath was warm as he whispered in his ear and his hand was now further up his back, no longer restrained by the wall, "Jeno, come on, show me your face," Jaemin whined into his ear making Jeno only push his face further into his arms.

"Fine, I'll tell you about Mark then," his lips had left Jeno's ear now, but his hand remained on his back. Jeno kept his face in his arms, deciding he wanted to stay there until he was either dead or Jaemin had seemed to forget his embarrassing blush.

"Mark was the first born of two twin boys, his brother was Lucas, the one whose bed is on the other side of the room," his thumb continued to stroke Jeno's back, "his death is probably the most stupid, I guess," Jaemin seemed to shuffle with the desk in front of them, his hand leaving Jeno's back for a couple of seconds before coming back, now using his entire hand to stroke him.

"Lucas wrote in a letter what seemed to have happened to his brother," there was some shuffling of papers, "do you want me to just tell you the gist of it or read the letter?" Jaemin's fingers drummed on his back for a little bit.

Jeno had to cough to get his voice to work, his voice so low Jaemin had to lean closer to hear him better, "read it please," he wanted Jaemin to read it so he could imagine it was somebody else talking and not his crush that was currently comforting and telling him about the death of his family.

_ Mark told me his plan, he told me how he was going to swing around on the swing, but I didn't believe he would be able to do it. _

_ I left him out on the swing because mom called us in for dinner. It's not my fault he wouldn't listen, I was hungry anyway. _

_ He was so quiet out there. He didn't say a word even though mom was yelling at him. She thought he might've just taken long because of his broken leg so she asked me to go out and get him. _

_ I didn't want to, I just wanted dinner. It was his fault for breaking his leg anyway. Who climbs a tree in the middle of the night? _

_ Mark, Mark did. _

_ He didn't scream when he did it, because he actually did it. I saw it when mom finally made me go out and get him. He was swinging around and around. It was so cool. _

_ And then he let go. He didn't scream then either, I was the one that screamed. I ran as fast as I could to the cliff, but I didn't make it in time. _

_ When I peeked over the edge he was down there, completely still. Mom was there a couple of seconds later and pulled me away. Dad was the one that walked down and got his body. _

_ We vowed to never talk about what he looked like, but I can still see it. _

_ I can see his broken body and bloody face. He looked awful, worse than he usually did I mean. _

_ Mark always wanted to fly, and I'm happy he at least got to fly a little before he died. Even if it was only for a couple of seconds. _

_ Love, Lucas. _

Jaemin sighed, "that was Mark for you," Jeno had to look up from his arms then, he had to ask Jaemin questions. He isn't as smart as many people thought.

"What happened? Did he fall from a cliff?" Jeno wanted to scream, Jaemin had cocked his head to the side like a small puppy. His lips pursed out in a small pout, Jeno wanted to kiss it away.

"He was on a swing we have in the garden that's close to this cliff and he was going around the branch," Jaemin had taken his hand away from his back to show him swinging around the branch, but this time he didn't put it back, "but then he let go, and he had so much speed he just shot out over the cliff and onto the ground below."

The blood drained from his face. He thought about Lucas seeing all that, seeing his brother die such a horrible death, "how old was he?"

"Eleven," he felt as if the breath had been knocked out of him, Marie's case had been similar, but at least nobody had seen her fall and only her dad had actually seen the body.

He jumped when Jaemin put his hand back on his back, "I'll tell you something about Lucas, even though we aren't at his story yet if you want?" Jeno quickly nodded, hoping to god Lucas was fine.

"He joined the army the day he turned 18 and he found something he was really good at," Jaemin gave a weak smile his way, "don't worry too much about him, he was fine," he gave Jeno shirt one last squeeze.

They sat in silence for a while, Jeno thinking the story through. After hearing about Thor and Nanna he had forgotten how gruesome these stories actually were, most of them were kids. 

Kids younger than him and Jaemin. He felt stupid being worried about homework when there were kids dying like flies in Jaemin's family.

He stared at Mark in the painting, taking in the way his dimples seemed to get deeper the longer he looked, the way his eyes turned upward and the way he had light freckles across his nose and cheeks, "who's next?" his throat was so dry.

"barbara, the last one on this floor," Jaemin patted his back as he answered, Jeno could see out of the side of his eye that the younger was watching him closely, "we can skip the rest if you want, we don't have to do this."

Jeno turned quickly, "no!" Jaemin jumped a little at Jeno yelling, "I mean," he laid his hands on Jaemin's knee, "I really want to hear all the stories, I just can't imagine being Lucas," he noticed he'd been watching his hands on Jaemin's knee instead of looking into the younger eyes, he slowly looked up, "I just needed a moment to think over it," he gave Jaemin a weak smile.

Jaemin nodded back slowly, "if you're sure you're fine then let's continue," his hand dropped from where it had been resting on the side of his waist, Jeno felt like butterflies were living in his stomach as he realized the touch had felt so natural he hadn't even registered it before it was gone.

"Let's continue," he didn't need to be told to get out of the hut, he could tell there wasn't any secret passageway in the small room. He walked across the bridge, Jaemin waiting for him to be completely across to join him.

They stood in the middle of the room for a second, "lead the way boss," Jeno grinned at the younger, gesturing with his arms for Jaemin to walk wherever they were going, being quite happy Jaemin actually walked in the direction that he had stretched his arms too.

"You're so corny," Jeno could hear the laughter in Jaemin's tone, being happy he had made the other happy. He liked Jaemin being happy and he especially liked being the one behind that happiness.

"I'm sure you love it," Jeno giggled as Jaemin blushed and turned away trying his best to hide his face.

Jaemin didn't say anything as he dropped to the floor and pulled one of the books from the shelves, "I think my family was trying to be all cool when they made this, but how could you be cool when your last secret entry was over a toilet."

"I mean, I didn't expect the one on the toilet, so that's cool," Jeno shrugged.

Jaemin snorted from where he was waiting for the bookshelf to open up, "well, you're right about that."

They were quiet as they shuffled through the small passageway, Jeno trying his best to not stay too far behind, but also at the same time not too close either, He didn't want to make Jaemin uncomfortable by being all up in his personal space.

The room was lit up by small windows that Jeno couldn't help looking out of every time they passed one. They showed off the side of the house so there wasn't much to see and when they went through a curve they showed the front. He couldn't quite believe that just hours before he had been right there, looking up at the house and wondering why the hell their house was so weird.

"We're almost there Jeno, don't freak out on me," Jaemin yelled from where he was, he was metering in front of Jeno and didn't look out of any of the windows as he passed.

Sometimes Jeno forgot how Jaemin had grown up in this house, how Jaemin must have spent hours just running and playing through the passageways. He could see it whenever one of Jisung's small paintings showed up on the walls, but Jaemin didn't leave behind any trace.

"Jaemin," Jaemin hummed, "what is your thing?" Jeno asked, his heart beating erratically in his chest, suddenly questioning whether it was right or wrong of him to ask such a question.

"Do you want me to spoil the surprise?" Jaemin teased, he had stopped moving for a second but was back to crawling through the small space. Soon enough seeming the push the ceiling above him and stand up. Jeno hurried to join him, his knees starting to ache underneath him.

When he stood up he was once again taken aback. No matter how much he tried to imagine what the next room might look like he was never right, they always looked different and completely opposite of what he was thinking. 

The room they had just entered had movie posters everywhere, had fake (or maybe real Jeno couldn't tell) scripts scattered across the floor, and one of the walls were painted with a big gold star with the name barbara in the middle, “movie star?” 

Jaemin nodded at him, “Barbara was a child star, it changed over the years though,” he sat down on Barbara’s bed. Jeno, however, turned around to look at the vanity. The vanity had the usual painting of the owner of the room.

Barbara had the same youthful beauty and happy aura as Jaemin. Even the way she was smiling in the painting reminded him of Jaemin.

“What happened to her?” He said toward the younger as he looked at all the different types of merchandise.

“She didn’t get any good roles after her big hit. It used to bother her when she was younger but by the time she turned 16 she didn’t care anymore.” Jeno heard Jaemin shift a little on the girls bed.

“But then she got this really hot boyfriend,” there’s a teasing tone in the youngers voice. Jeno only snorts as he finally turns around to look at Jaemin instead.

Brown tufts of hair fall over Jaemin’s twinkling eyes as he stares up at Jeno. His pink lips showing a smirk.

“How hot?” Jeno asks as he joins the younger on the bed. It’s surprisingly hard. Maybe his back would hurt less if his bed was this hard too. To be honest his back problems probably come from being hunched over playing computer games all night, not his bed.

He bumps their shoulders, “I’m just kidding Jeno. You don’t have to be jealous or anything.” He says with a wink.

Jeno snorts shaking his head in hopes it’ll hide his pink blush, “whatever just get back to the story Jaem.”

“Alright.” He said with a teasing tone before getting back to telling Barbara’s story. “He was a really big fan of her previous work, especially her role in that Bigfoot movie. So, when she got this opportunity to perform her infamous scream at a local convention for fans of older horror movies he practically begged her to do it.”

“After a couple days of begging she agreed to do it. It’s just that she’d grown up you know. Her voice changed and with it, her scream wasn’t the same anymore. They met up and practised a lot. Like, a lot.” 

In his imagination, Barbara’s boyfriend is a jock because only jocks would beg their girlfriends to do something they aren’t comfortable with, and he happens to know Jaemin has a thing for jocks. He’d seen the younger steal multiple jackets from the football team at school, not that Jeno really cared. Not at all.

He had blond hair because Barbara had blonde hair and Jeno wasn’t original. The boyfriend wasn’t very tall, barely taller than Barbara but he made it up in mass. His shoulders were wide and his thighs were big and had loads of muscle.

The image of the two of them sitting in the spacious living room seemed strange. He didn't realise until much later that it was because he was imagining teenagers from the 60’s sitting in a modern room with a flatscreen tv.

“One night while they were practising grandpa Sven, my grandpa not Barbara’s got hurt on the electric saw and had to be rushed to the hospital. It wasn’t anything bad yet, they just had to watch her brother's for a while,” Jaemin shrugs, his first movement in a while, “no biggie.”

Jeno had a feeling it would end up being a ‘biggie’. He tried to mentally prepare for whatever Jaemin had up his sleeve. A tiny part of his brain tried to tell him Jaemin must be bullshitting at this point, but he dismissed that thought immediately. He trusted Jaemin.

“About maybe an hour later the radio rolled their nightly reminder to lock the doors because some crazy killer was going loose killing innocent people.” Jaemin started to sound more and more sad for each word he uttered.

“The hooked killer was everywhere.” A chill ran down Jeno’s back. He’d heard about the hooked killer from his mom. He’d never been caught but he’d been able to murder over a dozen people. The main target being teenage girls.

His eyes flickered over to the painting again, Barbara still smiling at him brightly. She looks just likes the victims his mom had told him about years ago.

“They locked the door and everything. Barbara wasn’t dumb enough to not listen to the radio and the countless police reports,” the younger had do take a break to breathe. His hands gripped his jeans tightly.

“I know this isn’t the hardest story I just hate it. I think it’s because it plays on my fears. Especially since his house is so goddamn creepy.” He lifts his arms up as to gesture to the whole house. It’s only been a couple hours but Jeno can’t help but agree, the house is creepy.

“It’s okay. Take your time,” he pats Jaemin’s knee softly for a little bit trying his hardest not to blush. He’s pretty sure he failed miserably. But how can he not blush when his fingers lightly grazed Jaemin’s bare skin? 

Jaemin gives him a small smile in return, “thanks.”

“Let’s get back to it. They were practising when they heard a noise in the basement. Barbara’s boyfriend being the tough boy he is said he’d go down to check it out, but also said that if he wasn’t back within ten minutes that she should come get him.” 

Another chill goes down Jeno’s back. The image of Barbara’s boyfriend mangled in the basement flashing in his mind. Even worse, somehow after Jaemin had said Barbara’s boyfriend was hot he couldn’t stop imagining him as Jaemin, even if that’s disgusting and doesn’t make sense. Incest and all that.

But the mental image of Jaemin bloody and mangled in the basement makes him feel sick and light headed. He makes sure to focus on Jaemin’s voice when he speaks, the image slowly disappearing from his mind.

“Ten minutes later Barbara hears nothing so she heads down. There’s blood everywhere but she recognises immediately that it’s from her dad. You know, from when he’d hurt his hand on the saw thing.” Jaemin explained while waving his hand around.

Jeno nodded, he really didn’t like the idea of cutting his hand or anything for that matter on a saw. He hoped he never has to deal with that.

“Obviously she was scared for what the fuck could’ve happened to her boyfriend right?” He stopped and stared at Jeno, his face looking scandalised about what was going on. He looked so into the story Jeno couldn’t even focus on his swear.

“Right…” he didn’t know whether Jaemin actually wanted an answer or not but based on the way the youngers lips quirked up in a small smile at his answer he couldn’t find it in himself to care.

“So she walks around a little bit but then the fridge rattles. Barbara is a tough one so she’s not even scared and goes straight up to it. Before she can open it however,” he takes a dramatic pause, the air in the room heavy. Jeno’s breathing the loudest sound in the room.

“Her boyfriend jumps out of it!” Jeno jumps when Jaemin yells and springs out of Barbara’s bed.

Jeno yells out “what the fuck,” as he too stands up. His mouth agape as he meets eyes with Jaemin who shares the same expression as him. Scandalised and angry.

“He’s a dick right?” Jaemin asks as he drops back down onto the bed. His hair an even bigger mess now. Jeno giggles a little at it, reaching out and pulling his brown hair back. There’s a pink blush on Jaemin’s cheeks as Jeno pulls his hand away.

It stays in the air as Jaemin’s hair falls back down, a little less messy now. Jeno can’t help but softly smile at the younger. Jaemin looks back up at him through his lashes, his blush slowly deepening as a soft smile spreads across his lips.

Just as Jeno lets his hand fall from its position in the air Jaemin’s own arm moves toward it. He grabs Jeno’s hand in a light grasp. Dark blush can’t help but creep up Jeno’s cheeks, even tinting his ears a light red. 

Deep down Jeno knows he just touched Jaemin’s hair and that that’s probably a bigger deal in the grand scheme of things, but the fact that Jaemin was the one initiating them holding hands made his poor whipped heart almost jump out of his chest. His heart was beating so hard he was sure Jaemin could feel it where their hands were connected.

His eyes flutter back to Jaemin’s face from where he’d been staring at their clasped hands. Thank god their fingers weren’t interlaced or Jeno was sure he’d be dead by now. His heart would beat so hard it’d burst right through his chest and just flop down onto the floor. Right in front of Jaemin.

Jeno shakes himself out of the weird road his mind had gone when Jaemin giggles in front of him. “Want me to continue?” He asks with his head slightly tilted.

“Please, I want to know how badass Barbara dies,” Jeno tries to crack a joke but he regrets it before he can even finish it. Joking about somebody's death is never funny. But its especially not funny when a family member of the deceased is sitting right in front of you ready to tell you the way they die.

As Jeno feels himself curl in on himself Jaemin only lets out one loud laugh, just a single laugh. “I’m glad you think she’s badass, Jeno.”

He grips Jeno’s wrist and pulls him close again. Once again holding his hand. Maybe a half-assed joke about somebody's death isn’t so bad after all. He feels a flutter in his chest when Jaemin squeezes his hand.

“And as the badass she was she kicked him right out of the house. She just slammed the door in his face. He was actually injured at the time so he had crutches but Barbara kept one of them accidentally. Obviously she’s too mad to open the door and hand him it so she just sits down on the couch and falls asleep for a while.”

As Jaemin talked his thumb slowly stroked patters on Jeno’s knuckles. Jeno was sure the younger wasn’t even thinking about what he was doing, but somehow that thought just made Jeno’s heart beat even faster. Jaemin was comfortable enough around him to unknowingly touch him.

That’s like stuff couples do. Jeno’s heart does a somersault just thinking about him and Jaemin as a couple.

“At around midnight her brother Walter yells from his room upstairs,” Jaemin yells help a couple of times, trying his best to imitate a child’s voice. Jeno can’t help but giggle softly. “So Barbara hurries up to his room, making sure to tell him that if he’s joking around she’ll be really angry, but once she comes to his room there’s nobody there.” Jeno gasps.

He can’t imagine all the scenarios going through Barbara’s head after discovering Walter missing. A shudder goes through him at the thought.

“Before she can start to search for him however somebody else walks into the room. The floorboards creak under the stranger making Barbara spin around and end up face. to. face.” Jaemin punctuated each word by leaning just a little bit closer, “with the hooked killer,” he finished dramatically.

"Oh my god!" Jeno exclaims feeling anxious on Barbara's behalf.

Jaemin smiles at him before continuing, "here's where the store gets a little choppy but allegedly Barbara ran away from the hooked killer through the many secret rooms and hallways. She even confused him so much he slipped on her rollerskates and he fell through the fence on the second floor and smashed into the glass table."

Jeno remembers the wood not matching the entire way on the fence. One part looked newer than the other. Pale and unpainted. "I noticed that," he comments in a whisper.

"Most people don't do that. It's like their eyes filter out the lighter wood," he grins down at Jeno, "that's why I like you. You're so smart," he pinches his cheek with his not busy hand. Jeno turns away as he blushes hoping Jaemin can't see him blushing but based on the youngers cooing he does.

"You like me pinching your cute cheeks?" Jaemin asks with big round eyes full of sparkles. Jeno vaguely wonders if Jaemin knows they sparkle like that. Or maybe they only sparkle for Jeno.

Jeno only punches his shoulder and tells him to shut up. He's totally not blushing even more than earlier, "just get back to the story you flirt."

The younger laughs loudly, "alright. Anything for you boss." He schools his face and starts talking, "so allegedly after this, he disappears and the doorbell rings. Barbara thinks it might be her boyfriend and opens the door only to disappear and to never be seen again." He shrugs.

"That's it?" Jeno asks.

Jaemin shakes his head. "No... After a couple hours of police work, they find her ear in her music box in the hallway..."

Imagining an ear in something as innocent as a music box almost makes him choke. Especially when he imagines blood around it. A chill runs down his spine when Jaemin opens his mouth, "the hooked killer was never found, but the police are theorising it was Barbara's boyfriend the entire time."

Squeezing Jeno's hand Jaemin finishes up quickly, "because of his love for Halloween you know?" Jeno half-heartedly nods, "anyway, they never found anything more of Barbara anywhere. She might've survived and just lost an ear, but honestly, I don't think anybody in the family believes that."

"That was fucked up," Jeno shudders. Goosebumps going up his arm as Jaemin strokes his knuckles softly. His mind reeling with images of the blonde girl scared, her ear in the music box, her dead body rotten and full of maggots in the forest.

Jaemin nods, "they found Walter under his bed though, but he quickly went hiding after that. He was never the same again."

"Poor boy... How old was he again?"

The other answers with a shrug, "probably around like nine, but don't quote me on that I haven't checked before."

Hearing Jaemin admitting to not knowing everything makes Jeno smile. Just a soft one. He's still a little ruined after hearing Barbara's story. "Still pretty young."

"Yeah, I can't imagine being right there while your sister is fighting off a murderer. Oh and you know, disappearing forever."

Jeno can't help but laugh softly, "you're so annoying. This is serious Jaem." He tries to sound serious but miserably fails when a loud laugh escapes his lips.

"I know, but I don't like seeing you sad. I like when you're all happy and smiley," he plays a little with his fingers, "especially when I'm the one making you like that." Jeno's already blushing but Jaemin doesn't seem to want to stop, "you're like my personal little cutie." His free hand cups his face.

The blush goes from his cheeks to his ears and all the way to his chest. Jaemin giggles before taking his hand away from his face. Jeno already misses it on his face. He pouts a little making Jaemin grin even wider.

"Gosh I just want to kiss your red cheeks," Jaemin pouts a little too, "like mwah."

Jeno snorts loudly and pushes the younger off the bed, their hands untangling, "shut up. You're so annoying," he grumbles as he walks straight out the door ignoring Jaemin's laughter as the younger runs after him.

"I'm kidding Jeno!" He hooks his chin on his shoulder effectively freezing Jeno up. His breath hitching in his throat. He's never felt Jaemin's breath on his skin like that, it makes him imagine things. Things he shouldn't imagine about a friend. Things like kissing and cuddling.

He quickly shakes his head, "let's head to the next story."

Jaemin halts a little. He looks at Jeno with a sad expression on his face. It almost looks like he doesn't want to do it. Not that Jeno doesn't understand, it must feel terrible knowing all these people are your family and you can end up the same way.

Reaching a hand out he holds Jaemin's hand. His blush remaining on his cheeks darkening knowing he just took Jaemin's hand. He could really get used to holding Jaemin's hand. The younger however one ups him by intertwining their fingers.

"Uhm, the next one..." He trails off. His eyes attached to the floor.

Jeno's heart does a lot of flips seeing Jaemin so apprehensive. So... sad. He frowns a little looking at him. What type of story could get Jaemin this sad?

After standing in silence for a bit Jeno puts his finger on Jaemin's chin and lifts his head up. He makes sure to give him his cutest smile, "you can tell me Jaemin."

There are a couple more seconds of silence before Jaemin sighs, "the next one will hurt Jeno. Every time I think about it my heart hurts, everything hurts." He takes a step forward. He's standing so close Jeno thinks he might actually kiss him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading part 1! Follow me on twt @ foryukjaem for updates on when it will be posted!
> 
> My cc is linked in my twt bio and is @ blancalill :)
> 
> Please leave comments, I'd really appreciate it !!
> 
> Love, Soph


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